This is the largest sum of government money for environment protection since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, said Hu Hengyang, deputy head of the Agricultural and Economic Department under the State Development Planning Commission, at a national conference that opened recently in Chongqing, the largest metropolis in western China.

China is working on nine environmental protection projects. The project to regenerate the country’s natural forest belts has cost 6.4 billion yuan. The State will provide an additional of 1.3 billion yuan for the project in the latter half of the year.

The country will invest 1 billion yuan to plant trees and grass on barren hills, 400 million yuan to expand windbreak belts nad 1.6 billion yuan to improve the environment in 370 counties.

According to official statistics, China has spent 27 billion yuan on improving the environment since 1998.

(Xinhua)